KOLKATA: Calcutta high court asked CBI on Friday to take over the probe into corruption charges against RG Kar Medical College‘s ex-principal Sandip Ghosh from an SIT constituted by the Bengal govt, saying it makes sense to have one agency look into all allegations against him.
Allegations of financial and administrative impropriety have been piling up against Ghosh, already under investigation by CBI for his actions following the Aug 9 rape-murder of a junior doctor on campus.
Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj directed the SIT set up earlier this week to transfer all relevant documents to CBI by 10am Saturday, and directed the central agency to file a progress report on Sept 17.
“The investigations (into the rape-murder at RG Kar hospital and the graft charges against the ex-principal) should not be fragmented between different agencies. Handing over the investigation to the CBI ensures consistency,” states the court’s 12-page order. “Multiple agencies handling different aspects of the case could lead to inefficiencies or inconsistencies, unnecessary delays and potential misinterpretation of information.”
Justice Bharadwaj’s order came on a petition filed by RG Kar hospital’s ex-deputy superintendent Akhtar Ali, seeking an ED investigation into alleged corruption involving Ghosh. He said nothing came of his complaints against Ghosh with the anti-corruption branch and the West Bengal Human Rights Commission last year.
When the state’s counsel Amitesh Banerjee argued against giving the probe to CBI, Justice Bharadwaj sought to know why the govt waited until Aug 16 to set up the SIT when a complaint about irregularities at RG Kar was filed in 2023.
Ali’s lawyer Tarunjyoti Tewari mentioned in his submission allegations of corruption in disposal of medical at the hospital and also the “disappearance” of a body from the morgue on Jan 11 last year.
Govt counsel Banerjee said setting up the SIT was an “autonomous decision, unrelated and unconnected” to Ali’s complaint. The SIT, comprising four senior IPS officers, was tasked with probing irregularities at the state-run hospital since Jan 2021, he pointed out.
Ghosh’s counsel Biswaroop Bhattacharya challenged Justice Bharadwaj’s order before a division bench of justices Harish Tandon and Hiranmay Bhattacharyya, saying it was issued without giving his client a hearing. The court asked him to approach a regular bench.
Allegations of financial and administrative impropriety have been piling up against Ghosh, already under investigation by CBI for his actions following the Aug 9 rape-murder of a junior doctor on campus.
Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj directed the SIT set up earlier this week to transfer all relevant documents to CBI by 10am Saturday, and directed the central agency to file a progress report on Sept 17.
“The investigations (into the rape-murder at RG Kar hospital and the graft charges against the ex-principal) should not be fragmented between different agencies. Handing over the investigation to the CBI ensures consistency,” states the court’s 12-page order. “Multiple agencies handling different aspects of the case could lead to inefficiencies or inconsistencies, unnecessary delays and potential misinterpretation of information.”
Justice Bharadwaj’s order came on a petition filed by RG Kar hospital’s ex-deputy superintendent Akhtar Ali, seeking an ED investigation into alleged corruption involving Ghosh. He said nothing came of his complaints against Ghosh with the anti-corruption branch and the West Bengal Human Rights Commission last year.
When the state’s counsel Amitesh Banerjee argued against giving the probe to CBI, Justice Bharadwaj sought to know why the govt waited until Aug 16 to set up the SIT when a complaint about irregularities at RG Kar was filed in 2023.
Ali’s lawyer Tarunjyoti Tewari mentioned in his submission allegations of corruption in disposal of medical at the hospital and also the “disappearance” of a body from the morgue on Jan 11 last year.
Govt counsel Banerjee said setting up the SIT was an “autonomous decision, unrelated and unconnected” to Ali’s complaint. The SIT, comprising four senior IPS officers, was tasked with probing irregularities at the state-run hospital since Jan 2021, he pointed out.
Ghosh’s counsel Biswaroop Bhattacharya challenged Justice Bharadwaj’s order before a division bench of justices Harish Tandon and Hiranmay Bhattacharyya, saying it was issued without giving his client a hearing. The court asked him to approach a regular bench.